Improved cork-cutting machine



ilNirnn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ISAAC GOODSPEED, OF NORWICH, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF,

I A. A. GOODSFEED, E. S. STEBBINS, AND A. NEWBURY. I

IMPROVED ooRK-CUTTlNG MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters lPatent No. 40,4414, dated October 27, 1563.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IsAAc Goonsrnnn, of

Norwich, in the county of New London an'd- State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Cutting` Corks for Bottles and other pur-` the same, reference being had to the accom-g panying drawings, forming part of this speciflcation, in whichy Figure 1 is a front View of a cork-cutting machine, illustrating my improvements. Fig. 2 is a central horizontal vertical section ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a transversesection of the same in the plane indicated by the line x .tin Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is an inside face view of one of the cutters. Fig. 5 is an end view of the same. Figs. 6 and 7 illustrate the adaptation of the machine to the cutting .of ring or shell corks.'

Similar letters of reference indicate ycorresponding parts in the several igures y This invention relates to cork-'cutting machines in which patterns are used to determine the size and form of the corks, as described in the specification of Letters Patent granted to A. A. G-oodspeed, E. S. Stebbins, and myself, dated June 4L, 1861.

It consists, first, in a novel system of clamps applied to coniine the knives to the pattern, whereby a single pattern only is required in cutting any one form of cork, instead of two, as described in the above-mentioned specifi"- cation of Letters Patent, and much trouble is saved in adjusting the machine to cut various kinds of corks; and it consists, secondly, in so combining with each other the back spindle, which holds the slab up tothe pattern in the cutting operation, and a slide which works upon the rotating spindle and has the cutters attached to it by means of a lever controlled by suitable stops upon the back spindle thaty a pressure upon the said lever in one direction will both cause the back spindle to hold the slab up to the pattern and drive or feed the Icutters into the slab, and a pressure upon the said lever in the opposite direction will rst draw back'the back spindle and th'en.

draw back the cutters.

A To" enable others skilled in the art to make E, which only has a longitudinal movement.

The rotating cutter-spindle D has ii'rmly secured upon it apulley, F, for the reception of a driving-belt, through which it receives rotary motion, and a disk, G, for carrying the clamps by which thev cutters J J are clamped to the patternI; and it has itt'ed to it in such a manner as to slide longitudinally a disk, A, to which the heads o f the cutters J J -are attached,and it hasthe pattern I secured to the end next the back spindle. The pattern I represented is of conical form, but it may be changed for one of cylindrical of any size, or for a, larger or smaller one of conical form, according to the form and size of the corks to be cut, as it regulates the size as well as the form of the corks. It is secured to the end of the spindle D concentric with it by 'any suitable means that will compel it to rotate with the said spindle.

The cutters J J, of which there may be one I or more,but of which there are two represented in the drawings, are made of long piecesof steel plate curved transversely in the form of arcs oi circles, and their cutting-edges are at the endsv next the back spindle,E. The radii of the arcs of theirinner faces should correspond nearly with the radii of the circles of the corks to becut, and hence two or more cutters or sets of cutters of different sizes will be necessary for a machine to cut corks of greatly-varying sizes, though one cutter or set of cutters will serve to cut corks varying considerably in size. The disk H, to which the heads of the cutters are attached,is bored out cylindrically to fit easily and slide upon a v cylindrical portion of the shaft, and to the face of this disk there are securely bolted by bolts c c radially-arranged plates K K, at the inner ends of which there are tongues which enter longitudinal grooves c c' in the shaft for the purpose of compelling the said disk to turn with the shaft, but yet permit it to slide longitudinally thereon. The said plates are made with protuberances dd large enough to bedrilled radially to the axis of the shaft and tapped for the reception of screw-pins e e, which, by entering the holes f f provided in the cutters near the heads thereof, attach the cutters to the disk H, the said holes and pin permitting the heads of the cutters to come in contact with the plates K K, that the said plates may press directly upon the cutters to force them into the slabs of cork-wood to cut the cork therefrom. The cutters pass freely through openings g g in the disk G and fit into slight longitudinal grooves provided in the pattern and the spindle D.

L L are the clamps for securing the cutters to the pattern, made in the form of portions of a longitudinally divided cylinder to fit, or nearly iit, the exterior surfaces of the cutters, and pivoted by pins h 7L at the middle of their length to the ends of levers M M, which are attached by fulcrum-pinsi 13 to strong studs N N, which are rigidly secured in the disk G. At their other ends the levers M M are fitted with set-screws jj, which, by being screwed `down upon the studs N N, are made to set the clamps down upon the cutters, and so caused to confine them to the surface of the pattern, but yet not to hold them so tightly as to prevent them from sliding along the face thereof in the cutting operation. The said clamps being arranged exactly opposite to the pattern and pivoted at the middle of their length to the levers, are enabled to adapt themselves to the form of the pattern and keep the cutters in contact with the Whole length thereof, and so set them either parallel with or at the required obliquity lto the axis of the rotating shaft as may be required by the form of the corks to be cut, the holes f f in the heads of the cutters fitting the screw-pins e eso loosely as to permit the cutters to freely assume the requisite position. By this mode of applying the clamps the singleV pattern is rendered sufticient for guiding the cutter in cutting any one kind of cork.

Pis the lever for producing the longitudinal movements of the back spindle, E, and of the cutters. This lever has its lower end pivoted by a pin, lc, to a collar, Z, that is fast on a sliding rod, Q, which is arranged.V parallel with and below the spindles D E in guides in the head-stocks B and C. The said lever has provided in it an' opening through which the back spindle, E, passes, and on opposite sides of the opening there are longitudinal slots m for the reception of a pin, @,which is inserted transversely through the back spindle, the said pin serving to connect the latter spindle with the lever. rlhe rod Q is connected with the hub ofthe disk H by means of an arm, R, which is rigidly secured to the said rod, but which is furnished at the upper end with a yoke fitting Within a groove in the said hub in such manner as not to interfere with the rotation of the disk H and cutterspindle. The said rod is fitted in front and behind the head-stock C with two stop-collars, p and q,to limit its lon gitud-inal movement, and the back spindle, E, is litted in front and back of the 4said collars r and s to limit its longitudinal movement. l When rotary motion is communicated to cutter-spindle D, the disks G and H, the cutters, clamps, and pattern all rotate with it.

Before the slab of cork-wood S can be introduced between the pattern and the backspindleL the upper end ofthe leverP is taken hold of by the operator and moved to the right, by which means the back spindle, E, is drawn back till its stop r comes in contact with the headstock C, after which the continued movement of the lever moves the rod Q to the left till its stop q comes in contact with the head-stock C, and the said rod is thus caused'to draw back the disk H and the cutters until the points or cutting-edges of the latter are brought over the pattern, as shown in Fig. 1. rIhe slab S is then placed between the pattern and the back spindle, and by moving the upper end of the lever to the left the back spindle is first brought forward and caused to clamp the slab against the end of the pattern, as shown in Fig. l, and then the rod Q is moved to the right, causing the disk H and the cutters to move in the same direction upon the cutterspindle, the latter spindle having no longitudinal movement. cutters presses them into the slab and feeds them as they cut thereinto by their rotary motion until they have cut through the slab, which is made known by the stop p coming in contact with the head stock C and stopping the further movement of the rod Q. The pins e e are relieved of strain in the above operation by the plates K K coming in contact with heads of the cutters. The stops s and p should be so set as to limit the longitudinal movements of the spindle E and rod Q in such a manner that the edges of the cutters cannot be pressed against the end of the back spindle and be thereby injured. When the cutters have cut through the cork, the upper end of the lever is moved to the right, and after having drawn back the spindle E till the stop r comes against the head-stock C, it, vby its action on the rod Q, draws back the disk H and withdraws the cutters from the slab, leaving the corkt, Fig. 2, free to be pushed out when-the slab has been removed from the pattern.

Fig. 6 is an end view of the pattern and the knives for cutting a ringshaped or shell cork, the cutter u, nearest the axis of the rotating Spindle, making a circular cut, (represented by the smaller circle in Fig. 7 and the cutter c, farthest from the axis, making a circular cut,

l (represented by the larger circle in the same figure.) w, Fig. 7, representsthe ring-shaped or shell cork, being the piece which comes out of the slab between the two circular cuts, and y' represents the smaller solid cork cut from the interior of the shell-cork.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, isv 4 1. The clamps L L, arranged on pivots h 71,

This movement of the the purpose herein specified.

3. Combining the back spindle, E,With the disk or slide H, with which the cutters are connected by means of a lever, P, Whose operation is so controlled by stops as to operate thersaid spindle and the said disk or slide,

substantially in the manner herein specified.

ISAAC GOODSPEED.

Witnesses:

M. S. PARTRIDGE, J. W. CooMBs. 

